The best
Native American & Aboriginal Biographies:
Reddit reviews
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
The best of Native American & Aboriginal Biographies by number of unique Reddit comments:
Top Reddit reviews mentioning Native American & Aboriginal Biographies:
I can't tell you what tribe the declaration of independence was referring to, but Empire of the Summer Moon does a good job of describing the atrocities of the Comanche.
https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060
In addition to the many rape stories as well as the killing of children, there were others like how they would cut your eyelids off and tie you down on your back staring into the summer sun until you baked to death.
They claimed it. The Comanches fought back. There were a few points in which American settlement was actually pushed back by a hundred miles or so due to how savagely the Comanche fought. For a long time, the United States was unable to truly connect its two halves. The mounted Plains Indians were far too fast and mobile to effectively fight with then-modern technology and doctrine, much like trying to fight Steppe Nomads at the time in Russia.
What changed was the invention of a new, stronger rifle and an interest in buffalo hides to market. White men could now shoot further than the Mongol-like, always-mounted Comanches, and more importantly the White men utterly annihilated the buffalo herds the Comanche survived off of. Basically, the American free market starved the Comanche and other Plains Indians out of the thing they needed to survive by lucky happenstance, which let White men truly conquest the Great Plains. And in 1874 the Red River War happened, which saw most of the last free Com ache tribes surrender to the Americans and go onto reservations because they had no other choice and would otherwise starve to death. This finally made the southern Great Plains save for permanent White colonization.
I highly recommend the book Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne . There's also an Audible audiobook version which is quite good. It's a book about the rise and fall of the Comanche nation[s] and it's super fascinating to hear about that period of frontier warring ad tragedy.
I’ve been reading an amazing book about Polynesian settlement. You should check it out. It’s fascinating and a really good read. The problem is it’s led to a google earth and Wikipedia binge where I’ve learned about islands formed by a god doing goatse to captain cook to the physics of sailing and now I’m ready to leave my family and buy a sailboat.
Most native tribes were horrific savages.
Here's an excellent book to read, which goes into great detail about Comanche history and cites the firsthand accounts of the people who encountered Comanches and many Comanches themselves.
https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060
Sorry, but people who live in a culture that tortures infants to death have it coming when they get wiped out. This was not limited to the Comanches, either. Firsthand accounts from all over the Americas by even completely barbaric Europeans confirm this.
The funny thing is one of our closest allies in the wars against the Comanches were fucking cannibals.
If you want to get started on Central America, we can always talk about the Aztecs.
This guy's story is really interesting. Parker's Fort, where his mother was captured and the rest of his family slaughtered, is a well kept state park. There was a book written about him, Empire of the Summer Moon, that was a Pulitzer finalist and great read. You can't imagine the violence and turbulence in his world as the Comanche fought the Anglos and Spanish/Mexicans.
I haven't read that one, but I loved Sam Gwynne's book "Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History." https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060/ref=pd_lpo_card_2?pd_rd_i=1416591060&psc=1
I'm also told that "War of a Thousand Deserts: Indian Raids and the U.S.-Mexican War" by Brian DeLay is a good one. It is part of the Lamar Series and looks not only at the Comanche, but also the Apache, Kiowa, and Navajo peoples.
You know what, you're right! Edited and fixed in the post. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica entry on Comanche they descended from the Wyoming Shoshone tribe and as they gradually migrated southward they displaced the Apache. I guess that latter fact is why I thought they came from the Apache. I know I've read a few second hand sources in the 1800s that said this but the Comanche themselves ought to know more than anyone else. I read a book a while back called Empire of the Summer Moon which talks about how the Comanche language has many similarities to that of the Ute tribe in Utah and that should have been a clue.
One last question for you and /u/CornerTang since you are both knowledgeable and seem to be near by. Would this be a good first book for my collection, or would you recommend something else?
Stone Artifacts of Texas Indians by Turner, Hester, McReynolds
Thank you both again!
For Texas, this book is great.
Also this website
the people seem wonderful and I’m on my 3rd book about wales…
its a very very interesting country…
reminds me of texas…an historically badass, sovereign country subsumed by a larger amalgamation of principalities into a great union…
i look forward to one day buying a pint for everyone at the pub for the happiness their awesome town, people and football team has given my wife, daughter and I…
long live wrexham and the republic of texas…and florida :)
for any wrexham friends who want to learn about my beloved homeland who shares so many sensibilities with wales, I would recommend sg Gwynne s definitive treatise on our formation at the hands of the Spanish, Mexicans, and, most impactfully, the Horse Lords of the Southern Plains….the mighty comanche
hope y’all win tomorrow…I’ll be rooting while eating a Kristy Kreme donut and drinking a diet Dr Pepper.
I learned by doing Grad School in Archaeology and 7 years of work in OK, TX, KS, and NM lol.
A slightly easier way of identifying point types would be to use the Stone Artifacts of Texas Indians book. https://www.amazon.com/Stone-Artifacts-Indians-Completely-Revised/dp/1589794648
I highly recommend the book Empire Of The Summer Moon that details this and Quannah Parker's rise to become the last Comanche chief.
If you're interested into the details of the story, there's a great book that documents this time period in the American history
amazon link
> the native Indian genocide occurred way before the 19th century
Westward expansion and the genocide of most of the Indians was after the Civil War.
https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful-ebook/dp/B003KN3MDG
The point I'm trying to make is that America isn't on top because it's clever or whatever. It's because it bombed and murdered everyone else into submission. Which India cannot do.
China did things the hard way, and it took them 50 years with a government that wasn't hobbled by parliamentary democracy.
There's basically no chance for India to get to the top in the near future. We should still try, of course, but personally, I think it's a better goal to lobby for open borders and just try to improve things through emigration.
Your racism is entirely uncalled-for.
If you would like to read more about the Comanche, I highly recommend Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanche, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History.
I was very much enjoying this show. I found the hardships realist which made the show interesting. However, when the * Indians appeared the story line turned ridiculous. Imo, it would have been better to keep them as one more danger the settlers have to face. The character of Elsa could still have stayed just as interesting without an additional love or at least until the reach Oregon.
*Here's an excellent book regarding the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History.
https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060
Haha…true
we start texas history in 6th grade…
and we all have lots of kin from Amarillo to the Rio Grande valley…
my family settled on the staked plains(llano estacado) after shouldering their way from the original deed near Witchita Falls.
as I tell everyone who is curious about Texans and our sensibilities they can read the definitive treatise on the mighty comanche nation and how it shaped our society:
we were truly an accidental nation born in the blood of the greatest man-for-man military force planet earth has ever seen: the mounted comanche…
read this and u will better understand why we are how we are…
I do, even though I'm not American. It's okay to gain new information and keep the same feelings, you're just not as nieve about it. The book Empire of the Summer Moon has some great stories in there of why each side of the conflict behaved the way that they did.
Yes. But they also killed White Settlers in mass which could also be considered Genocide. Read up . https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060 Shit was different 150 years a go. Trying to paint the past in Black and White with todays standards and norms is ridiculous. Pretty much everyone would be considered Racist before WWII by todays standards. Does that mean that we demonize all of human history, or we put it in perspective?
If you're looking for books then Albion's Seed is good. It explains the cultural and political implications the Scottish, Quaker, Puritan, Irish, and Plantation owners, and slaves/blacks had in forming the American identity and their diaspora.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is also a good one. It was written in the 70s so expect outdated terms but it tells the story of American expansion from the perspective of the Plains Indians.
Something that also might be important is Flight of the Eagle by Conrad Black. The book tells the history of the United States from the French & Indian War to the 90s in how it went from a bunch of Englishmen loyal to London to THE global power and the many different conflicts it took to get there.
Here's the rest of my book wishlist on American history if you're interested, not sure how useful they'll be.
- The Barbarous Years by Bernard Bailyn “The Peopling of British North America - The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675”
The Absent Superpower by Peter Zeihan “The Shale Revolution and a World without America”
- A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown “An Indian History of the American West”
- Common Sense by Thomas Paine
- Albion’s Seed by David Hackett Fischer “Four British Folkways in North America”
If you haven’t already I thoroughly recommend Empire of the Summer Moon by SC Gwynne.
Great read on the history of the Comanche. The link is to Amazon but I’m sure you could find a copy at Book People or Half Price Books
Demons, indeed.
But not just any natives -- the Comanche, in particular, used their preternatural skills on horseback to subjugate all other local native tribes, then turned their fury upon the white settlers when they arrived. Those who were foolishly optimistic enough to build homesteads in Comanche territory soon discovered an enemy so otherworldly, so ruthless and cruel, fighting them must have seemed like Hell on Earth.
Read Empire of the Summer Moon which pretty much substantiates all the most nightmarish aspects of the quoted passage. McCarthy wasn't exaggerating.
https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060
Commanches were originally located on the steppes of the rocky mountains in Wyoming, and expanded southward following their domestication of the horses in the 1700's after the pueblo revolt. They arrived in central Texas at roughly the same time as the Spanish
Edit: This is a great read
They cut off peoples eyelids and tie them up on top of an anthill on their back staring at the sun, they would cut off peoples arms and legs and cook them and eat them while the person watched, lots of rape, lots of kidnapping and making slaves, lots of slow torture,.. Lots of burning people alive, Lots of cannibalism..
Read Empire of the summer moon https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060
To anyone interested, I strongly recommend the book
By S. C. Gwynne:
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
Amazon link:
https://smile.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060
I strongly recommend the book
By S. C. Gwynne:
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
Amazon link:
https://smile.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060
I already returned it to my library, but I looked it up for you. It's Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson. Amazon has it for about $14, and I'm sure any major library would have it, too. It really helped me understand the geography of the Pacific islands, as well as who the Polynesian people are.
if you're looking for something that isn't scifi or humor or dryass victorian shit, check out Empire of the Summer Moon
it's about the rise and conclusion of the indian wars during america's manifest destiny era. the reddit comment that sold me on it was "This was the only nonfiction book to give me nightmares."
shit was dark, but that's no reason to not learn. plus it's some pretty dang good writing. sent it to a buddy of mine that just moved to TX and he finished it in maybe a week. it's not a groundshaker that forever warps your perception of life, but it's a good book and something that's good to be knowledgable about
alternatively, Catch-22 is the fundamentally perfect novel
alternatively alternatively, berserk's a super fun manga (my first) for the first dozen or so issues
alternatively alternatively alternatively, i'm just about to dive into the Warhammer universe with The Horus Heresy
I'm currently reading Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History. It's fascinating story which details the clash of cultures between pioneer settlers of European descent and the native American tribes.